Sole for boots and shoes.



' Patented Oct. 16,1917.

mmwwu w M n W Ald RAYMOND B. PRICE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK IBELTING- AND PAGKING COMPANY, A CORPORATION ()Ili NEW YORK.

SOLE FOR B00135 AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented eat. in, rear.

Application filed July 17, 1915. Serial No. tonic.

' To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, RAYMOND lB. Plnonj-a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Soles for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to soles for. boots and shoes, more particularly to rubber soles. A rubber sole for a boot or shoe is subjected to different conditions of wear in different parts thereof. Below the ball.of the Ordinarily, rubber soles are made from rubber stock of substantially the same grade throughout, and the life of such soles is often determined by that of the toe portion thereof. When used in connection with a leather welt sole, and secured thereto with aline of stitching, or other fastening means, the ordinary rubber soles are fractured and snub off in chunks back to the line of fastenings and eventually break away from the leather welt sole.

To obviate these conditions, I provide a rubber sole, the edge portion of which is especially adapted to withstand the wear and usage to which it is subjected and to form a firm anchorage for securing means whereby separation of the rubber sole from the welt sole or the like is positively prevented.

I accomplish this preferably by incorporating fibrous material with the rubber at the edge of the solo in such a manner that a .unitary integral structure results which is less liable to breaking or chipping from impact with hard substances, and is more durable than other portions of the sole, thus through the prolonging of the life of the edge portion, prolonging the life of the entire sole. v

The invention consists in a sole for a boot or shoe embodying therein a unitary integral mass of vulcanized rubber compound and fibrous material such as fabric or the like; and in such other novel features as are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention can be readily understood from the following description taken in 0011- nection withthc accompanying drawlng in Which- A Figure 1 is a bottom view of a rubber sole emodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough.

Fig. 3 is a b'ottoin view of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section therethrough.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts, a rubber sole is shown embodying a main portion a, which in use is subjected to ordinary frictional wear, and a toe portion I), which, in addition to such wear, is

subjected to impact or blows, having a tcndency to chip or break the rubber and also to severe bending strains. In carrying out the invention the part a is made of rubber compound or stock of that grade best suited to withstand the wear to which this part is subjected, while the part b is made to embody fibrous material, sucli as a layer or layers of rubber treated fabric 10, extending parallel with the tread of the sole and producing suflicient strength and firmness in the toe portion to enable the same to with standthe shocks of blows and impacts as Well as the severe bending strains to which it is subjected when the wearer is walking. This fibrous material furthermore constitutes a firm anchorage for securing means, such as a line of stitching, nails, or the like, whereby separation of the sole at the too from the leather Welt or the like to which it may be secured is positively prevented.

The parts a and are preferably assembled before vulcanization, so that the completed sole consists of an integral unitary mass of vulcanized rubber and fabric countersunk therein.

I- am aware that leather inserts have been embodied in the toe portions of rubber soles, but when I use the term fibrous material I mean the same to exclude leather and to include vegetable and animal fibrous material, such as fabric, felt, and the like. brous material of this character can be more easily vulcanized to rubber than leather and forms a more permanent association with rubber than does leather, so that a sole constructed in accordance with my invention will embody non-separable layers or plies of rubber and fibrous material and my improved sole may be characterized by .this feature;

In the drawing I have shown the fabric insert 10 asformed of five plies of fabric cut so that each successive ply starting from the outside one is shorter than the one preceding it, so that an oblique joint 11 results. However, I do not intend to limit myself to the construction illustrated, as I may form the insert of any desired number of plies, and may form the joint in any manner that best adapts the sole to withstand the 'conditions of service for which it is intended.

I may form the fibrous insert of layers of fabric treated with rubber, in any usual or preferred manner, as for instance, by dipping .the fabric into rubber cement, or frictioning the fabric, or skim-coating the fabric; in each case there will exist in the final product continuous strata of rubber between the plies of fabric, extending rear ward into the part a of the sole, and my improved sole may also be characterized by this Stratification of rubber and fabric at the toe portion.

I do not limit myself to a plurality of superposed plies of fabric as I may employ only one ply, if desired, and furthermore,

.may localize the insert at any desired portion of the edge of the sole, as for instance,

in Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown the insert 10- I calized at 12 around the edge of the toe portion, and at13 around the edge of the heel portion of the rubber sole 14.

I do not limit myself to any particular method of preparing the fibrous material for association with the rubber sole, as the material may be prepared and treated inany manner that proves to be advantageous, it being simply necessary to the practice of my invention that a layer of fibrous material other than leather exist at any localized point upon the bottom face of the edge portion in either the toe or heel of a rubber sole, said layer being united in integral unitary association with the rubber sole.

I also contemplate preventing fraying of fibrous material by an application of rubber or other cement, or by impregnation with soft rubber, but I do not limit myself to these methods or materials as I consider any treatment whatever of the fibrous material to prevent fraying or even to strengthen the same falls within the-scope of my invention.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of, my invention, I do not limit myself to the construction ers of fabric countersunk in the bottom face of the edge portion and extending parallel with the tread of the sole.

2. A vulcanized rubber sole having layers of rubber treated fabric countersunk in the bottom face of the edge portion and extend- RAYMOND B. PRICE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

